With the transfer window for free agents closing on September 30 and Antonis Tsiftsis sidelined for an unknown period, PAOK has entered the market to find a goalkeeper who will support Dominik Kotarski, as the only options behind him are the “youngsters” Dimitris Monastirlis and Konstantinos Balomenos.
One of the names that has emerged with interest is that of Jiri Pavlenka. He is a 32-year-old Czech goalkeeper who became a free agent this summer after seven years at Werder Bremen, a club in the Bundesliga. Standing at 1.96m tall, Pavlenka has been capped 21 times for his national team and has also played for Hlucin, Banik Ostrava, and Slavia Prague.
In his time with the “greens” of Bremen, Pavlenka appeared in 221 matches across all competitions, managing to keep a clean sheet in 44 of them while conceding a total of 345 goals. During the 2023/24 season, he struggled with muscle injuries and was mostly sidelined, making only eight (8) appearances, thus missing the chance to be included in the Czech squad for Euro 2024.
Apostolos Vaxevanelis